Workers turning Schuylkill Mall wing into 8-screen 'Pearl' theater

Nick Meyer/Staff Photographer
Theater manager Mark Clement explains how new screens will stretch from wall-to-wall while standing in an old theater Tuesday at Schuylkill Mall Theaters, which is undergoing renovations. The new theater will be called The Pearl Stadium 8 at Schuylkill Mall.

After eight weeks of work, carpenters have established the basic framework of The Pearl Stadium 8 at Schuylkill Mall, the new movie theater scheduled to be complete in 2013.

On Tuesday afternoon, Mark Clement, theater manager, and mall manager Elaine Maneval toured the site. The complex is being expanded from four to eight theaters and will stretch up to the area of Kmart, into the storefront that was formerly Nirvana's Closet.

"The theater used to be 11,000 square feet. They're adding 5,000 square feet to it," Maneval said while standing in the area of the new lobby.

Clement walked to the spot where there will be a lounge with a kitchen and a bar that serves alcohol, called The Screening Room.

This is the first time there's been such a renovation in the theater's 31-year history. Clement and Maneval hope the $1.6-million project will encourage moviegoers to come to Frackville instead of travelling out of the area.

"This is something totally different that the mall hasn't had before. We're very confident this is not only going to bring new traffic to the mall but also keep the local demographic here instead of going to Hazleton or Reading or wherever they're going to get an upscale theater experience," Maneval said.

"I think it's a huge gamble. You're pulling from a lot of a small communities up there. The ideal place for something like that is between two cities. Pouring money on something doesn't necessarily make it a success. I wish them the best," Michael Danchak, who co-owns The Angela Triplex, Coaldale, with his wife, Deborah, said Wednesday.

"I am looking forward to it. Everywhere you go they seem to have multiplexes with 10 screens or so. I hope they show a diverse selection of films, maybe not just the regular first-run features, perhaps some foreign films, classics and midnight shows," Charlie Thomas, Saint Clair, said Tuesday.

Keith Kerlavage, Frackville, who worked at the Schuylkill Mall theater when it was owned by UA/Regal, said Tuesday he always hoped a major renovation project like this would come along.

"Sadly, with the economy and the general repression of Schuylkill County, I am not sure if this will bring much business. I could end it being surprised, though. It has potential," Kerlavage said.

While the construction is going on, three of the four screens at Schuylkill Mall Theatres will remain open, Clement said.

"Plus, we have the drive-in. We'll keep that open as long as we can through the season," Clement said, referring to Movies on the Mountain, a two-screen, outdoor, drive-in theater on the north end of the mall parking lot.

On Wednesday, Maneval closed the mall entrance on the east side of the Kmart wing to allow construction to continue. However, she said that entrance will remain open for public access to Schuylkill Mall Theaters.

King Theatre Circuit, Philadelphia, which signed a lease to operate the four-screen Schuylkill Mall Theatres in October 2010, and Empire Realty Investments Inc., Philadelphia, which bought the mall in March 2007, are investing $1.6 million to give the region's moviegoers something new, Clement said.

JKR Partners LLC, Philadelphia, is the architect on the project and the general contractor is LTCI Ltd., Hatboro, Clement said.

LTCI's crew has so far established the spaces for two of the new screening rooms, theaters 1 and 2, which will be "VIP" theaters.

"They're going to be luxury auditoriums with special chairs, very plush, different chairs than those that will be in the regular theaters," Clement said.

The seating areas in those spaces have not yet been built.

Meanwhile, the screening room on the far west end of Schuylkill Mall Theaters has been closed and gutted.

"This used to be Theater 4. It will become Theater 3," Clement said.

Meanwhile, Clement said he's planning to hire 20 people but didn't specify how many of those positions would be part-time or full-time.

"It's hard to say right now," he said Tuesday.

Clement was not certain when renovations would be complete and would only say "2013."

spytak@republicanherald.com

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